


H2O

by Ashi_lion



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Eventual relationship, Gay, Gay Keith (Voltron), Insecure Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith is a hippo keeper, Keith lives in a crappy house right outside of a small town, Lance is a shark keeper, Lance lives in the country, Lance's Family is somewhat based on Dirty Laundry, M/M, Minor death, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), Some angst, Zookeeper AU, aquarium, idk....you'll see what I mean by angst..., klance, male x male
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-24 02:28:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12003036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashi_lion/pseuds/Ashi_lion
Summary: Keith and Lance work in the Aquarium of Voltron Zoo. Keith doesn't necessarily like his job, but his nostalgia and love of hippos keep him from leaving his coworkers and the commute behind. However, things can change, and Keith may be swayed to change his tolerance for things.





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> I never thought I would have to name these many animals in my life...

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MustacheUncle- Coran- Manager 

MiceyMouse- Allura- Rodent Keeper

EmoHippo- Keith- Hippo Keeper 

LeftSharkky- Lance- Shark Keeper

Owl_nerrd- Pidge- Owl Keeper 

TourBoy- Hunk- Tour Guide

EmoLion- Shiro- Lion Keeper

VOLTRON ZOO CHAT 

7:20 AM (an hour before work)

MustacheUncle: Hello Keepers! Just a Reminder Tours are gonna start extra early today. I hope you all have your speeches ready. Keith, try not to get distracted by Lance this time alright.

EmoHippo: Maybe I wouldn’t get distracted by Lance if he stopped taunting me through the walkie-talkies.

Owl_nerrd: And maybe he wouldn’t taunt Keith if Coran didn’t favor him…

LeftSharkky: HA I'M THE FAVORITE

MustacheUncle: I don’t favor anyone. I am an uncle to all my employees.

MustacheUncle: So Lance, Stop distracting your co-workers or I’ll.....

EmoHippo: or you’ll…..?

MustacheUncle: I’ll make you help Shiro scoop lion feces.

LeftSharkky: CORAN YOU WOULDN’T DO THAT TO LANCEY LANCE

EmoHippo: I don’t know…. The Hippo enclosure is closer…. And I could use some help with that…

MiceyMouse: why do I get the feeling you just want to see Lance more….

EmoLion: Because the only reason Keith would ever want to inconvenience me is to not have Pidge call him “the Loner”

LeftSharkky: OHHH MULLET I NEVER KNEW YOU FELT LIKE THAT!!! 

Owl_nerrd: Ah yes… cleaning up hippo shit…. Quality bonding.

EmoHippo: I don’t give a fuck what Pidge calls me. Lance can stay on one side of the enclosure and I'll stay on the other we’ll be far far away from each other. I just want help cleaning hippo shit.

LeftSharkky: TWO BrOS ChILLIN’G IN a HOt TUBBB. FIvE FEET APART

LeftSharkky: CAUSE  
LeftSharkky: THERE

EmoLion: LANCE!!!

TourBoy: ***They’re

Owl_nerd:*They’re

Owl_nerd: Hunk… that was my line….

TourBoy: Sorry…. my bad! :) 

TourBoy: Good Luck with your speeches everyone!

———————————————————

‘God dammit Lance” Keith didn't like Lance, or at least not in that way. He didn’t necessarily dislike Lance but he definitely didn’t like him. Lance was annoying. Because Lance acted like Keith didn’t like him. He acted like there was some kind of ongoing competition between them. 

Either way, he had to get up. His commute was an hour, and Keith was definitely not a morning person. Good thing his manager had texted the group chat, or he probably wouldn't have woken up for another two hours. 

He didn’t even toss off his puffy gray comforter before slowly barrel rolling off his firm yet comfortable mattress. This caused him to become the center of a very cushiony burrito. He laid there for a good 5 minutes just contemplating whether or not he wanted to stand up in front of a dozen children with varying emotions towards learning about hippos. Keith hated being the center of attention. Luckily after a long night of writing, he had come up with a new speech that should, in theory, divert most attention to the beast that would be swimming behind him.

Keith began to wonder why he even took the job. Yeah sure, he did need a backup plan for if he couldn’t land his ideal job as the head set designer at the local small town theater. Unfortunately, the owner had a personal bias toward they’re Niece who won the Houston Rodeo art competition at the age of 10. It also could also have been because the theater was family owned and operated but whatever.

He could have taken the offer to be a helper at a family farm. Yeah sure It was 30 minutes away, but that was better than an hour. He wouldn’t have to deal with his weird and cooky manager, he wouldn’t have to deal with his fear of public speaking, and best of all he wouldn’t have to deal with Lance and his annoying tendencies. 

Then Keith remembered hippos, that's why he took the job. Hippos were the one thing in all realities that Keith had a soft spot for. How could he not take the opportunity when Voltron Zoo had an opening to be a Hippo keeper. Not only did Keith love hippos but Voltron Zoo gave him a feeling of nostalgia. 

Just thinking about Hippos made the corners of Keith's lips turn upwards. He squirmed out of his blanket and slowly walked to the kitchen to make some coffee and grab a piece of toast or something quick. Before quickly throwing on his uniform and leaving for work.

———

Lance walked into his kitchen, His large family was sitting around their table “Hola Mamá, Buenos días! I got the more eggs for breakfast.” His mom was standing at the stove cooking. She was a short and old woman, She somehow still kept a bright and youthful expression.  
“Oh Thank you, Lance!” She said cheerfully.”I just used the last one.” Lance had been up since 5:00 am He liked to wake up before the sun it made him feel put together and fresh. He put the eggs in the fridge and went to join the rest of his family at the table. Lance was the youngest sibling but he had a two Nieces and a Nephew all of which he loved very much. But they along with their parents had moved out of the McClain home, but they still lived nearby and visited often. 

“Tours at the zoo start really early today…” Lance scoffed, normally tours started at 1:00 but today for some reason tours start at 11:00 which is only an hour after the zoo opens. Lance’s sister Sophia gave him a confused look “So? you usually complain about not knowing what to do before tours.”

“Well Yeah but that's why I like days when they start and 12:00. BUT today they start at 11:00 and that like, 30 minutes before I’m normally ready to start my speech.” Lance explained. 

They continued having Their conversation while eating breakfast until the clock hit 8:00. Then Lance stood up hugged all his family members goodbye and ran out the door to his car.

———

8:25

Keith had arrived at work five minutes early. He could tell by the other cars in the parking lot it turned out Pidge, the owl keeper, and Allura, the rodent keeper, and a few other coworkers he wasn’t familiar with had arrived early as well. He walked through the front gate tiredly. He showed a scanner his badge the same way he did every day. He continued down the pathways passing different animals of different kinds. Some were being fed by their respective keeper's others were still sleeping.

He approached the Aquarium building and opened the doors. Walking down the hallways and passing multiple tanks of various types of fish before reaching the hippo enclosure. There was a hippo with a large birthmark on its forehead already swimming in the water already. Keith paused and smiled at the large animal. “Hello.” He stood there for a second and thought of an old memory.

When Keith was just turning five years old his dad had taken him to Voltron Zoo for his birthday. Keith begged his dad to buy him a stuffed hippo he had seen in the gift shop. It was only 7 dollars but the family of two already struggled to buy more than one jacket for the winter. But his father loved his son. So, he bought it for him. For a few minutes, he admits he may have regretted it. But all that stopped when they reached the hippo enclosure.

A Hippo swam by the glass. The look on his son’s face as he gazed at the creature everything, all the money this birthday trip would cost, the two-hour drive, his son’s face made it all worth it. His eyes full of wonder and excitement. His tiny arms squeezing his stuffed hippo to his chest. His bottom lip weighed down by pure joy. While that same joy pulled up the corners of his mouth. The baby hippo that was following its parent stopped and looked at Keith through the glass. Keith pressed his body against the glass. “Hello…" he said to the baby. It had a large birthmark on its forehead. Keith’s father hoped that his son would remember this trip forever.

“Good morning Jojo,” Keith said to the large Hippo with the large birthmark on her forehead.


	2. II

Lance drove out his drive way in his blue Toyota Yaris iA. It may have been a thirty-minute drive but he had his music. He plugged the aux cord into his phone, pulled up his playlist and hit shuffle.

"Your challengers today are a young group from Houston…”

He pressed the button to start the engine while holding down the breaks.

"Welcome Beyoncé, Lativia, Nina, Niky, Kelly, and Ashley,”

Backed out of the parking area.

“The Hip Hop Rappin’… Girl’s Time!”

And began to drive down the long drive way to the gate. He tapped his head and mouthed the first part of the song. If someone was in the car they would be able to tell that he knew all the lyrics. When he reached the gate he paused the song and had to get out of his car to manually open the gate. He got back in the car and drove through the open gate. 

“This would be….sooooo much easier…. If someone else was here.” He thought out loud. After the whole process of getting through the gate and closing it. He turned his music back on and sang his heart out as he drove down the small two lane road.

“I know when you were little girls, you dreamt of being in my world. DON’T FORGET IT, DON’T FORGET IT! Respect that! BOW DOWN BITCHES!” He sang with his entire voice. He didn’t care if he was acting weird. He loved it. He loved music. With his windows rolled down, he drove toward work.  
————

8:37 AM

Lance arrived at work. At any other job, he’d be worried about his boss yelling at him, but his boss was Coran Hieronymus Wimbleon Smythe. He didn’t care if his employees were 15 minutes late. So Lance being seven minutes late was nothing. He walked through the front gate, casually showing the ID scanner his badge.

He walked down the paths. He reached the bird cages. “Hey” a female keeper turned her head to look at Lance.“Polly wanna tap that”He said pointing two finger guns at her. She giggled placing her hand over her mouth. Lance continued walking. “Hey there Pidge!” He said as he passed the owls.“YO LANCE!” Every animal had their keeper with them. Lance just now realized that. Every animal. “Soo Lance-“ Every animal…accept for Lance’s sharks.

“Sorry, Pidge! I have to go! See ya soon!” He sprinted off to the aquarium. When he reached it he flung the doors open and ran in. He ran by the tanks of fish.

————

Keith just finished giving Jojo her food. He sat next to her food dish and stroked her side. “You’re getting a bit bigger Jojo, we may have to change your diet.” He said looking at her stomach he lightly patted it.He had a sense of softness in his voice. It was a tone that was very uncommon in Keith. So uncommon in fact that it was only used around animals and babies, specifically hippos. Jojo turned her head when she had finished eating and nuzzled at Keith. “Do you miss your friend?” There was a hippo named Rex that had lived in Voltron Zoo for eight months. He was recovering from an injury that had happened due to poachers in Africa. After six months of recovery, it took a month to find a Hippo reservation for it to live on, and a whole second month to organize transportation. 

Jojo turned her whole body and continued to nuzzle Keith. She grunted as if to respond. “Yeah?” Keith laughed a Jojo pushed him over. “Yeah, I miss him too…” Keith said. Keith laid there for a second letting Jojo sniff his face. “Come on lets go…!” Keith slid out from under the hippo and stood up. He took off his socks and shoes and put his feet in the water. Jojo jogged over to the ramp that went into the water and walked in. Keith watched as she swam around the water.

He heard something. It was like running. As it came closer he heard panting. Keith looked out of the enclosure’s window to see Lance running. Normally Lance would walk by and say something cheesy, or he would taunt Keith, something along those lines.

“What the fuck?” Keith mumbled. Jojo raised her nose right above the water and grunted, spraying water everywhere. “Sorry Jojo, excuse my langue.” He stood up and went to go put his socks and shoes back on. Jojo started walking out of the water. “I’ll be back, I’m gonna go see why Lance is running,” Jojo grunted. “WHAT NO! Look I’m just curious!” He admits that he may have yelled a bit there. “Be good ok.” He walked out the enclosure and followed Lance.

————

“IM SO SORRY!!!!” Lance cried out as he hugged the wallow the shark tunnel. “I PROMISE I’LL NEVER BE LATE AGAIN! YOU MUST FEEL SO LEFT OUT. Every other animal gets love at the beginning of the day and me, I just lea-“.

“Lance?” Lance stopped and turned around. “Oh…. Hey Keith!” He said as if Keith didn’t just see Lance crying apologetically to the sharks. “Lance, what are you doing,” Keith asked. “Apologizing,” Lance answered simply. "Why are you apologizing to sharks, they’re just fish?” Keith stated. Lance gasped. “What they ar-“ Keith began to say before being cut off. “THEY ARE NOT JUST FISH! THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL LARGE TIGERS OF THE WATER! And they deserve love.” Lance argued clearly slightly offended. “Deadly fish…” Keith responded. “You're a piece of shit Keith…” Lance said. “Says the guy who’s late to work every day.” “That's gonna change, starting today. I’m not gonna let Bello Jr. go without love.” He said putting his finger on the glass pointing to a very large hammerhead.

“That's a big shark…” Keith said. Lance looked at him and then back at the shark. His blue eyes widening as he watched the large fish swim. “Actually, he's not that big…” Lance stated following the shark along the side of the tunnel. “He’s a hammerhead. Those things have grown to be twenty feet before…”He walked away from the wall, looked back at Keith and crossed his arms.“He’s only 10 feet.” Lance smiled and looked back at the shark in awe. “Know it all…” Keith muttered. He actually admired that Lance could be smart, he would just never admit to that. “Yeah right, Keith… You’re not much better yourself, with your constant hippo facts.” Lance retorted. Damn, Lance was actually kinda right. Keith did constantly spit out random facts about hippos. “Good talk Lance, I gotta go…..work on my speech. You should probably do that too.” Keith said. “well…If I'm going to keep Manager Coran on MY side I should probably do that….”Lance responded. “Also… I should probably feed them, Lightning looks hungry.” Lance added Keith was already walking off. “huh…?AHH!” Keith turned around only to get jump scared as a medium sized black tip shark swam beside him. Lance laughed “Fuck you, Lance.” Keith said as he continued walking away. “Catch you later Mullet!” Lance yelled out of the tunnel. Lance looked back at the sharks. His smile turned from its original jokey, sarcastic, state to a genuinely soft and sweet one. His eyes full of love and nostalgia.

When Lance was just four years old his family took a trip to Voltron Zoo. His Mom promised to buy all her children something from the gift shop.Lance’s oldest brother Daniel was 14 and grabbed some random snow globe, Sophia, was 12, she wanted a dolphin necklace, Benjamin, was 9 and asked for a water gun, Lance’s youngest sister Chole was 6 and she wanted a zookeeper Barbie doll, and Lance was in awe at a shark plushy. His mother stayed true to her word and bought everyone what they wanted.

————

The McClains made it to the shark tank and hippos. Lance was holding his Sister Sophia’s hand and hugging his new shark plushie close to his chest with the other “Hey Lance look at the hippos! Sophia said, Guiding Lance by the hand. She lightly pulled Lance towards the hippos. Lance just looked at the hippo tank a bit and then turned his head away out of disinterest. As he turned his head and his eyes caught the shark tank. Lance's little blue eyes lit up. “Sharky!” Lance stopped following Sophia. “Sophie! Sophie!” Lance yelled out with his little voice. He began to try to pull his sister towards the sharks. He eventually gave up and wiggled his hand out of his sister’s. “LANCE!” Sophia screamed out in fear of him running off.

Lance ran over to the tank and pressed his face against the glass. “Shark! Shark! Shark!” He yelped in excitement. He then saw a stick with a piece of meat on the end of it get lowered into the water by a zoo keeper. The pure childlike wonder in Lance’s eyes. It was a small memory  
that Lance would never forget.

————  
9:40

“Let's feed you guys.”

Lance walked out of the tunnel to the stairs that go to the top of the tank. At the top of the tank, there was a refrigerated shed with many buckets of fish. He grabbed a bucket and a feeding stick and walked back out to the tank. “OK, who wants food?” Lance put the bucket on the edge of the tank. He pulled a pair of gloves out of his pockets. “Let’s see whats on the menu today!” He pulled a fish caucus out of the bucket and placed it on the end of the stick. A black tip shark approached the surface. “Hello, Ace my man! Would you like a… um…what is this HERRING?” He said before he stuck the end of the rod in the water. The black tip went straight up to the fish and snatched it from the rod before darting away. Lance smiled as he watched the shark swallow the fish. “Would you guys like to hear my speech? It’s about you but I need to practice.”Lance said. He fed another shark before starting his speech. 

———

9:40

“I don't know Jojo He's just so weird… I mean he was apologizing to the sharks for not being there on time!” Keith said as wiped the glass of the enclosure. He looked back at Jojo as she laid down. “Don't look at me like that!” Keith said as he turned around to continue cleaning. 

———  
10:00

A few minutes later, a cheerful tune echoed through out the zoo. “¡BIEN! ¡Es Tiempo de irse!” Keith heard a voice shout from the shark tank. “Ugh, Lance….” Keith wasn’t entirely sure what Lance was saying, but he was sure that it was something cheesy and directed at the sharks. “Alright Jojo, it's go time.” He said as he exited the enclosure on to the path in front, where he waited for the visitors to start rolling in.

———

12:40

Keith yawned it could get really boring waiting for tours to start. “So mullet? You ready for your speech?” He heard through his walkie talkie. “You know it.” He responded. “You’ve memorized every thing, You’re not gonna mess up in front of everyone?” The voice taunted. “Lance…” Keith was beginning to get angry. “It’s getting close….. twenty, oh wait nineteen! Minutes left.” Keith stayed silent out of fear of getting angry. “You getting scared?” It was then that Lance had stepped his boundaries Keith couldn’t take it anymore.

“I'M NOT SCARED!” He yelled into the walkie talkie. It was so loud Keith could have just yelled it without using the walkie talkie and Lance would have still heard it clearly. Visitors stopped what they were doing and stared. Keith saw them staring. He smiled awkwardly and waved, mouthing the word “sorry.” “Whoa, Keith. Hold on, I’m just teasing you, Good luck buddy.”

This caught Keith off guard. Wishing Keith luck just seemed so out of character for Lance. Keith looked at the device in his hand with confusion. “Keith? You there bud?” Lance asked. He was acting weird now. Keith had only ever heard Lance use that soft tone when talking about either sharks or his family. “Yeah, I’m here,” Keith responded finally, cringing as he recognized the softness in his own voice. “Thanks, good luck to you as well.” Keith continued with the same soft tone.

Keith slowly and awkwardly placed the walkie talkie back in its holster. He put his hands behind his back and rocked back and forth on his heels pursing his lips. He saw two teenage girls in the corner, one slapping the other excitedly.She had short hair with the side of her head saved, She wore semi-round glasses. She was staring at Keith with her mouth and eyes wide open. The other turned around she had been reading about hippos on the large wall panel. She had long brown curly hair. Part of her head had been saved as well. She looked at her friend in confusion. Her friend pointed at Keith and whispered something. The second girl looked at Keith. She covered her mouth and started acting excited as well

“What is it? Why are they looking at me?” Keith wondered. He looked away ignoring them. “WE SHIP IT!” He hears someone yell, he looked over at the two girls again. The short haired girl slapped her friend and laughed. It was then that Keith realized that he and been furiously blushing. “Fuck,” he thought. He awkwardly smiled at them. They returned a smile and. Four thumbs up. Keith waved and looked at his watch. 12:50.Ten more minutes.

Hunks voice echoed through the zoo speakers. “Attention Voltron zoo visitors, We are very happy to have you. Tours are starting in ten minutes, go to the zoo entrance to buy or admit your tickets, I repeat. Tours are starting in ten minutes, go to the zoo entrance to buy or admit your tickets.” At that moment about 7 people left for the entrance.


	3. III

Lance drove out his driveway in his blue Toyota Yaris iA. It may have been a thirty-minute drive but he had his music. He plugged the aux cord into his phone, pulled up his playlist and hit shuffle.

"Your challengers today are a young group from Houston…”

He pressed the button to start the engine while holding down the breaks.

"Welcome Beyoncé, Lativia, Nina, Niky, Kelly, and Ashley,”

Backed out of the parking area.

“The Hip Hop Rappin’… Girl’s Time!”

And began to drive down the long driveway to the gate. He tapped his head and mouthed the first part of the song. If someone was in the car they would be able to tell that he knew all the lyrics. When he reached the gate he paused the song and had to get out of his car to manually open the gate. He got back in the car and drove through the open gate. 

“This would be….sooooo much easier…. If someone else was here.” He thought out loud. After the whole process of getting through the gate and closing it. He turned his music back on and sang his heart out as he drove down the small two-lane road.

“I know when you were little girls, you dreamt of being in my world. DON’T FORGET IT, DON’T FORGET IT! Respect that! BOW DOWN BITCHES!” He sang with his entire voice. He didn’t care if he was acting weird. He loved it. He loved music. With his windows rolled down, he drove toward work.  
————

8:37 AM

Lance arrived at work. At any other job, he’d be worried about his boss yelling at him, but his boss was Coran Hieronymus Wimbledon Smythe. He didn’t care if his employees were 15 minutes late. So Lance being seven minutes late was nothing. He walked through the front gate, casually showing the ID scanner his badge.

He walked down the paths. He reached the bird cages. “Hey” a female keeper turned her head to look at Lance.“Polly wanna tap that”He said pointing two finger guns at her. She giggled placing her hand over her mouth. Lance continued walking. “Hey there Pidge!” He said as he passed the owls.“YO LANCE!” Every animal had their keeper with them. Lance just now realized that. Every animal. “Soo Lance-“ Every animal…accept for Lance’s sharks.

“Sorry, Pidge! I have to go! See ya soon!” He sprinted off to the aquarium. When he reached it he flung the doors open and ran in. He ran by the tanks of fish.

————

Keith just finished giving Jojo her vitamins. He sat next to her dish and stroked her side. “You’re getting a bit bigger Jojo, we may have to change your diet.” He said looking at her stomach he lightly patted it.He had a sense of softness in his voice. It was a tone that was very uncommon in Keith. So uncommon in fact that it was only used around animals and babies, specifically hippos. Jojo turned her head when she had finished eating and nuzzled at Keith. “Do you miss your friend?” There was a hippo named Rex that had lived in Voltron Zoo for eight months. He was recovering from an injury that had happened due to poachers in Africa. After six months of recovery, it took a month to find a Hippo reservation for it to live on, and a whole second month to organize transportation. 

Jojo turned her whole body and continued to nuzzle Keith. She grunted as if to respond. “Yeah?” Keith laughed a Jojo pushed him over. “Yeah, I miss him too…” Keith said. Keith laid there for a second letting Jojo sniff his face. “Come on lets go…!” Keith slid out from under the hippo and stood up. He took off his socks and shoes and put his feet in the water. Jojo jogged over to the ramp that went into the water and walked in. Keith watched as she swam around the water.

He heard something. It was like running. As it came closer he heard panting. Keith looked out of the enclosure’s window to see Lance running. Normally Lance would walk by and say something cheesy, or he would taunt Keith, something along those lines.

“What the fuck?” Keith mumbled. Jojo raised her nose right above the water and grunted, spraying water everywhere. “Sorry Jojo, excuse my langue.” He stood up and went to go put his socks and shoes back on. Jojo started walking out of the water. “I’ll be back, I’m gonna go see why Lance is running,” Jojo grunted. “WHAT NO! Look I’m just curious!” He admits that he may have yelled a bit there. “Be good ok.” He walked out the enclosure and followed Lance.

————

“IM SO SORRY!!!!” Lance cried out as he hugged the wallow the shark tunnel. “I PROMISE I'LL NEVER BE LATE AGAIN! YOU MUST FEEL SO LEFT OUT. Every other animal gets love at the beginning of the day and me, I just lea-“.

“Lance?” Lance stopped and turned around. “Oh…. Hey Keith!” He said as if Keith didn’t just see Lance crying apologetically to the sharks. “Lance, what are you doing,” Keith asked. “Apologizing,” Lance answered simply. "Why are you apologizing to sharks, they’re just fish?” Keith stated. Lance gasped. “What they ar-“ Keith began to say before being cut off. “THEY ARE NOT JUST FISH! THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL LARGE TIGERS OF THE WATER! And they deserve love.” Lance argued clearly slightly offended. “Deadly fish…” Keith responded. “You're a piece of shit Keith…” Lance said. “Says the guy who’s late to work every day.” “That's gonna change, starting today. I’m not gonna let Bello Jr. go without love.” He said putting his finger on the glass pointing to a very large hammerhead.

“That's a big shark…” Keith said. Lance looked at him and then back at the shark. His blue eyes widening as he watched the large fish swim. “Actually, he's not that big…” Lance stated following the shark along the side of the tunnel. “He’s a hammerhead. Those things have grown to be twenty feet before…”He walked away from the wall, looked back at Keith and crossed his arms.“He’s only 10 feet.” Lance smiled and looked back at the shark in awe. “Know it all…” Keith muttered. He actually admired that Lance could be smart, he would just never admit to that. “Yeah right, Keith… You’re not much better yourself, with your constant hippo facts.” Lance retorted. Damn, Lance was actually kinda right. Keith did constantly spit out random facts about hippos. “Good talk Lance, I gotta go…..work on my speech. You should probably do that too.” Keith said. “well…If I'm going to keep Manager Coran on MY side I should probably do that….”Lance responded. “Also… I should probably feed them, Lightning looks hungry.” Lance added Keith was already walking off. “huh…?AHH!” Keith turned around only to get jump scared as a medium-sized black tip shark swam beside him. Lance laughed “Fuck you, Lance.” Keith said as he continued walking away. “Catch you later Mullet!” Lance yelled out of the tunnel. Lance looked back at the sharks. His smile turned from its original jokey, sarcastic, state to a genuinely soft and sweet one. His eyes full of love and nostalgia.

When Lance was just four years old his family took a trip to Voltron Zoo. His Mom promised to buy all her children something from the gift shop.Lance’s oldest brother Daniel was 14 and grabbed some random snow globe, Sophia, was 12, she wanted a dolphin necklace, Benjamin, was 9 and asked for a water gun, Lance’s youngest sister Chole was 6 and she wanted a zookeeper Barbie doll, and Lance was in awe at a shark plushy. His mother stayed true to her word and brought everyone what they wanted.

————

The McClains made it to the shark tank and hippos. Lance was holding his Sister Sophia’s hand and hugging his new shark plushie close to his chest with the other “Hey Lance look at the hippos! Sophia said, Guiding Lance by the hand. She lightly pulled Lance towards the hippos. Lance just looked at the hippo tank a bit and then turned his head away out of disinterest. As he turned his head and his eyes caught the shark tank. Lance's little blue eyes lit up. “Sharky!” Lance stopped following Sophia. “Sophie! Sophie!” Lance yelled out with his little voice. He began to try to pull his sister towards the sharks. He eventually gave up and wiggled his hand out of his sister’s. “LANCE!” Sophia screamed out in fear of him running off.

Lance ran over to the tank and pressed his face against the glass. “Shark! Shark! Shark!” He yelped in excitement. He then saw a stick with a piece of meat on the end of it get lowered into the water by a zookeeper. The pure childlike wonder in Lance’s eyes. It was a small memory  
that Lance would never forget.

————  
9:40

“Let's feed you guys.”

Lance walked out of the tunnel to the stairs that go to the top of the tank. At the top of the tank, there was a refrigerated shed with many buckets of fish. He grabbed a bucket and a feeding stick and walked back out to the tank. “OK, who wants food?” Lance put the bucket on the edge of the tank. He pulled a pair of gloves out of his pockets. “Let’s see whats on the menu today!” He pulled a fish caucus out of the bucket and placed it on the end of the stick. A blacktip shark approached the surface. “Hello, Ace my man! Would you like a… um…what is this HERRING?” He said before he stuck the end of the rod in the water. The blacktip went straight up to the fish and snatched it from the rod before darting away. Lance smiled as he watched the shark swallow the fish. “Would you guys like to hear my speech? It’s about you but I need to practice.”Lance said. He fed another shark before starting his speech. 

———

9:40

“I don't know Jojo He's just so weird… I mean he was apologizing to the sharks for not being there on time!” Keith said as wiped the glass of the enclosure. He looked back at Jojo as she laid down. “Don't look at me like that!” Keith said as he turned around to continue cleaning. 

———  
10:00

A few minutes later, a cheerful tune echoed throughout the zoo. “¡BIEN! ¡Es Tiempo de irse!” Keith heard a voice shout from the shark tank. “Ugh, Lance….” Keith wasn’t entirely sure what Lance was saying, but he was sure that it was something cheesy and directed at the sharks. “Alright Jojo, it's go time.” He said as he exited the enclosure onto the path in front, where he waited for the visitors to start rolling in.

———

12:40

Keith yawned it could get really boring waiting for tours to start. “So mullet? You ready for your speech?” He heard through his walkie-talkie. “You know it.” He responded. “You’ve memorized everything, You’re not gonna mess up in front of everyone?” The voice taunted. “Lance…” Keith was beginning to get angry. “It’s getting close….. twenty, oh wait nineteen! Minutes left.” Keith stayed silent out of fear of getting angry. “You getting scared?” It was then that Lance had stepped his boundaries Keith couldn’t take it anymore.

“I'M NOT SCARED!” He yelled into the walkie-talkie. It was so loud Keith could have just yelled it without using the walkie-talkie and Lance would have still heard it clearly. Visitors stopped what they were doing and stared. Keith saw them staring. He smiled awkwardly and waved, mouthing the word “sorry.” “Whoa, Keith. Hold on, I’m just teasing you, Good luck buddy.”

This caught Keith off guard. Wishing Keith luck just seemed so out of character for Lance. Keith looked at the device in his hand with confusion. “Keith? You there bud?” Lance asked. He was acting weird now. Keith had only ever heard Lance use that soft tone when talking about either sharks or his family. “Yeah, I’m here,” Keith responded finally, cringing as he recognized the softness in his own voice. “Thanks, good luck to you as well.” Keith continued with the same soft tone.

Keith slowly and awkwardly placed the walkie-talkie back in its holster. He put his hands behind his back and rocked back and forth on his heels pursing his lips. He saw two teenage girls in the corner, one slapping the other excitedly.She had short hair with the side of her head shaved, She wore semi-round glasses. She was staring at Keith with her mouth and eyes wide open. The other turned around she had been reading about hippos on the large wall panel. She had long brown curly hair. Part of her head had been saved as well. She looked at her friend in confusion. Her friend pointed at Keith and whispered something. The second girl looked at Keith. She covered her mouth and started acting excited as well

“What is it? Why are they looking at me?” Keith wondered. He looked away ignoring them. “WE SHIP IT!” He hears someone yell, he looked over at the two girls again. The short-haired girl slapped her friend and laughed. It was then that Keith realized that he and been furiously blushing. “Fuck,” he thought. He awkwardly smiled at them. They returned a smile and. Four thumbs up. Keith waved and looked at his watch. 12:50.Ten more minutes.

Hunks voice echoed through the zoo speakers. “Attention Voltron zoo visitors, We are very happy to have you. Tours are starting in ten minutes, go to the zoo entrance to buy or admit your tickets, I repeat. Tours are starting in ten minutes, go to the zoo entrance to buy or admit your tickets.” At that moment about 7 people left for the entrance including the two girls that were staring at Keith. 

———

1:20

“Thank you, Allura!” Hunk said. They had just finished learning about mice.“Your welcome, enjoy the rest of your tour guys!” Allura responded in her kind voice. “So next we will be going right in here, this is the Aquarium and I have two friends in there. Keith is gonna teach you about hippos and Lance is gonna teach you about sharks. There were two girls in the crowd of mostly young families, who suddenly started smiling and bouncing up and down a bit. Hunk opened the door and lead the group into the Aquarium.

The group kept walking until they reached Keith and the hippo enclosure. “Ok so We're here with my friend Keith, He gestured towards Keith who was clearly nervous. So nervous that he almost forgot to wave. “So I'll let Keith take the stage and he’ll teach you guys about hippos.

Hunk looked at Keith and Keith looked back at the tour group. “Ok, um… Hi guys, my name is Keith, and today I will be teaching ya'll about hippos.” So far he felt like he was doing ok. “So here at Voltron zoo we have one Hippo, We actually had two for about eight months but he was recently given to a reservation. Anyway, this is Jojo our hippo…” Keith gestured to the enclosure behind him. As if on cue Jojo swam behind Keith. “…she is 15 years old and is 3,027 pounds.” The group gasped at what Keith had just said. The astonishment gave Keith a feeling of validation. “Jojo, like other hippos eats reeds and grass. However, we occasionally give her a watermelon. Which she is capable of crushing in her mouth.”

There was a young girl around five at the front of the line hugging a stuffed hippo up to her chest. Keith looked down at the girl and gave her a smile. He would never admit to it but he loved kids, He loved the idea of a family.

“Hippos can stay underwater for up to five minutes. Sometimes Hippos will sleep in the water when they do their bodies naturally float to the surface allowing them to breathe. Because as you can see thanks to Jojo here…” Keith looked behind him for Jojo but she wasn’t there. “Jojo?” He put his hand on the glass and Jojo returned. “There she is!” Keith laughed, “Ok so as you can see her nostrils are almost level with her eyes. Which enables her to sleep in the water, because her nostrils are above the water.” Keith knew he could’ve worded that better but he just moved on.

“As sweet as Jojo Is and as much as I love hippos they could probably kill me in an instant, seen as they are the deadliest animal in Africa. Now if that wasn’t already saying something, that means they are deadlier than Lions, Nile Crocodiles, Great White Sharks, and so many different kinds of snakes…”

There was an awkward silence in which Keith began to regret everything he had just said. He looked at a group of small children, their faces filled with slight horror. Hunk leaned over to say something to Keith. “Maybe just, leave that part out….next time.” He whispered. “y-yeah…yep…tota- Ok moving on!” Keith nodded awkwardly. “Random Interesting facts. Interesting fact 1: Hippos happen to be closely related to whales and porpoises. 2: A Hippos milk is actually…”

A voice from his belt interrupted Keith “Hey, Mullet! Hows the speech going?” “…a pink color…” Keith continued “Hey, did you tell them about how they spay their sh-“Keith turned off his walkie-talkie quickly and continued his speech tell the end.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really in love with writing this AU. I'm thinking that I may do some art for it as well. I have some ideas for what scenes I could draw if that makes sense. Just letting you know I can get a bit busy, between school and.... other things. I'm a busy person. But I'll find time to write this. I also love feedback. So comments are very much appreciated. Suggestions and ideas will be considered. 
> 
> Thanks,  
> Ashlyn


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